TV & Media

Subscription TV Forecast: North America

Report Summary:

North American legacy pay TV services (cable, satellite, IPTV) continue to lose subscribers, falling from 95.89 million at year-end 2018 to 83.70 million by 2023, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of -2.7% (2018-2023).

Due to the ongoing decline in legacy pay TV subscriptions (cable, satellite, IPTV) in North America, revenues peaked in 2016 at $111.06B (€102.51B). Despite the decline in overall legacy pay TV revenues, monthly ARPU continues to grow reaching $89.64 (€82.74) in 2018. This trend, however, is not sustainabble and ultimately pressure from lower cost vMVVPDs will force legacy pay TV services to cut prices, develop skinny bundles, and adopt cloud-based delivery of video. Legacy pay TV monthly ARPU in 2023 will be $84.71 (€78.19), resulting in legacy pay TV revenues in North America falling from $104.963B (€96.88B) in 2018 to $86.16B (€79.52B) in 2023.